Daily Management Review

The Number of New Buildings in the United States Reached a Record for 8 Years


08/18/2015


The number of houses, construction of which began in the US in July, rose up 0.2% from the previous month and amounted to 1.206 million in terms of annual growth, according to the Ministry of Commerce.



Chris Rank/Bloomberg
Chris Rank/Bloomberg
This is the highest figure in nearly eight years - from October 2007.

According to some data, the number of new buildings has jumped by 12.3% to 1.204 million in June. Previously, it was reported that rates increased by 9.8% to 1.174 million homes.  

Analysts, surveyed by Bloomberg, expected growth in the number of new homes in last month by 0.5% from the previously announced level to 1,180 million.

The steady increase in the number of jobs in the United States, low mortgage rates and the gradual easing of credit conditions have impacted positively on the demand for housing. This suggests that the housing market will make a more significant, than previously thought, contribution to US economic growth.

- The housing market is now a good part of the economy - believes economist Stan Shipley of Evercore ISI. - We have a good employment growth, low interest rates, relatively high level of consumer confidence. All of this contributes to the demand for housing.

Meanwhile, the number of building permits in the US in July fell by 16.3% compared to the previous month (the maximum reduction in seven years) and amounted to 1.119 million homes in terms of annual growth. Experts had expected a decline by only 8.2%.

The number of permits is an indicator of the houses construction volume in the near future.

source: bloomberg.com